The present invention relates to an oven for the heat treatment of semiconductor substrates.
Such a vertically operated oven system for the heat treatment of semiconductor substrates is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,812. The support system which can be hung in the oven has a frame into which the individual racks are placed in the horizontal arrangement. In the vertical arrangement of the carrying system suspended in the oven, the racks bearing the substrate wafers are secured by a rod lying against the wafers, which in turn is held on arms projecting from the support system and extending over the substrate wafers. In this working position the substrate wafers are aligned substantially horizontally, i.e., perpendicular to the oven axis, and in this horizontal alignment they constitute a considerable resistance to flow for process gases passed longitudinally through the oven tube. Furthermore, the support system is virtually unchangeable as regards the different sizes of racks and wafers.
Setting out from this state of the art, the present invention is aimed at the problem of creating a vertically operated oven which will have a rheologically efficient structure, and whose support system will be easily changeable for the accommodation of the racks.